


Keep Your Chin Up to See the Stars

by SiryyGray



Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Dick can relate, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rachel has some Trauma, Tumblr Prompt, sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiryyGray/pseuds/SiryyGray
Summary: There's no world to save or attacks to survive, Rachel simply can't sleep and Dick can't help but notice. It's a detectives job to detect, after all. And maybe become an accidental pseudo-father-figure.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Raven
Comments: 4
Kudos: 72





	Keep Your Chin Up to See the Stars

The motel was... fine. It was fine.

Musty and outdated, but well kept. The sheets and towels were all clean, the soaps smelled of lavender and tea tree oil.

There wasn’t any traffic to keep her awake, yet sleep didn’t come.

Rachel kicked off the covers and sat up, swinging her feet over the edge of her bed. She rubbed at her eyes halfheartedly, looking blearily around the room for... something.

A half finished box of pizza, mint wrappers, a trash bin full of hastily scrawled crosses, an exhausted detective sprawled over the sofa.

Her gaze lingered on Dick.

Rachel knew he needed the sleep, the half touch of his hands from back at the police station was proof enough. Even just through that, she had felt a wave of _tiredness_ wash over her.

Still, part of her really wanted to wake him up. Just so she wasn’t alone.

Like, yeah, technically she wasn’t. But it felt like she was.

There were two mirrors in their room, a window to reflect and a dark TV screen that threw warped images back at her.

A set of keys sat on the dresser, right below the TV.

Rachel stood, her eyes trained down as she felt along the wooden surface until metal brushed her fingers.

Quietly as she could, Rachel padded to the door and slipped outside into the stinging cold.

It felt refreshing, the warmish buzz from inside the room vanishing and her head clearing.

A quick twist of her hand and the door was locked. She trudged through the parking lot, kicking pebbles up as she went.

Fragile gusts of wind caught her hair and spat it onto her face, covering her eyes and nose to the point of annoyance.

It wasn’t long enough to tie back, and either way she didn’t have an elastic.

Oh the woes of short hair.

She settled for tucking it behind her ears and finding a rickety picnic bench to perch on.

It was a rather lonely night, but at least she wasn’t surrounded by reflections. At least it was calm and she could collect herself a bit.

Yeah. Yeah that would be good. Get nice and relaxed then head in and sleep till noon.

Unfortunately, her subconscious had other plans. It threw images at her relentlessly.

Of her mother on the floor with a hole in her head.

That man holding a knife to her sternum and how his body hit the ground.

She could practically _hear_ the wet thump.

Rachel screwed her eyes shut, biting her lip and concentrating hard on the sounds of leaves rustling and crickets chirping to themselves.

“Hey,”

She practically jumped out of her skin.

Whirling around, Rachel found the outline of one Dick Grayson approaching her.

She wiped at her eyes and shook herself from the disturbed series of scenes.

As he came closer to her crumbling bench, she squinted.

Then stifled a laugh.

He had a clip in his hair, keeping his bangs from falling over his eyes— oh god it was a _barrette_. Detective Dick Grayson was wearing a barrette. It was a welcome moment of levity.

“Hi.” Her response was a tad delayed, but he didn’t seem to care. Or notice, actually.

If he did, he didn’t show any indication of it.

He gestured to an open spot beside her, “May I?”

Rachel shrugged and turned away, once again facing the highway stretching out horozontally, “Knock yourself out.”

He sat. And it was quiet.

Rachel couldn’t tell if he was waiting for her to speak or if the man was just too tired to put up with her bullshit.

It would be understandable, really. She’d caused her fair she of trouble and was bouncing back and forth like a yo-yo on an emotional level. One second she was moody and distant, the next she was sobbing in a bathtub and clinging to him like a lifeline.

She frowned and glanced over as subtle as she could.

To Rachel’s surprise, he wasn’t looking to her or at the backs of his eyelids.

Instead he stared upwards, his eyes fluttering about the sky in fevered clarity.

“What’re you looking at?”

“Andromeda.”

She blinked at him. “Huh?”

He pointed at the sky, “Right there, it’s supposed to be a women.”

She frowned, turning her gaze upwards and squinting.

Rachel tilted her head this way and that before dropping it back down into her hands.

“Nope. Don’t see it.”

“Look,” he gently took her hand and used it to draw out a shape.

“There’s her head,” a bright star to the right.

“her chest,” he traced a vaguely triangular shape through three dots.

“those are her legs, kinda sprawled out,” he dragged her hand in a straight line, then a curved one. “and that’s her arm. She’s reaching out, yeah?”

He let go and looked at Rachel. Her face remained blank.

Somehow, Dick managed to look dignified with a barrette stapling his hair down. He offered a weak smile.

“It’s silly, I know.”

She shook her head lightly, “No that’s not— I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

He quirked a brow at her.

“You didn’t. I... needed a drink.”

Rachels hands fidgeted. “Oh.”

“So what’s on your mind?”

Ah ha. There the walls go. Up up up, so high that no one can see the top.

“Nothing, just couldn’t sleep.”

She told him defensively. It was a bad lie. Maybe he’d leave her be. Hopefully his dulled sleepy brain didn’t pick up on the inflections.

“I won’t pry—“

“Good, cause there’s nothing to tell.” She interrupted coldly, letting her gaze lock onto the road and fade Dick from view.

“...but if there’s something you need to get off your chest, I’ll listen. I don’t even have to say anything. We can pretend it didn’t happen later.”

Rachel scowled, her nose wrinkling and mouth pulling and twisting.

“Just drop it, will you?” She growled, throwing him a sharp look.

Again, Dick was unbothered.

“Okay.”

...

That’s not what’s supposed to happen.

The tension leaked from her shoulders, and her breath hissed from her teeth.

_That’s not what adults do._

“Cool.”

And they sat there in silence, Dick looking at the stars, Rachel trying to follow his gaze and trace the pictures or find something interesting on the ground to look at. She counted the stitches on her clothes and forced ugly thoughts to the back of her head.

A rabbit sprinted through her line of sight like a ghost.

Rachel had to quell the urge to tap her feet or hum the gum jingle that had gotten stuck in her head. Goddamn, staying still is hard. Especially when it felt like she was being picked apart.

Which was crazy because Dick wasn’t even _looking_ at her. He wasn’t even tilting his head towards her or inching closer.

He had actually listened and… and he’d backed off.

Yet some part of her felt like an animal being directed from afar. Maybe it was because he was a detective. His _job_ is to be nosy and observant.

Like a teacher or a parent.

_A parent._

Shit.

Rachel could already feel the lump curling up in her throat and a dull pound settle into her head.

God, it was like she was sitting on a powder keg; ready to explode at any moment. The slightest though and she was near tears.

A house of cards that someone breathed near would always come tumbling down.

She struggled to keep her breathing even and pressed her lips firmly together. She wasn’t going to cry. She _wasn’t_.

Rachel had done enough crying the past few days. She was sick of it and exhausted with feeling so lost, but here comes the blurry vision.

A hitch in her breath.

Dick was surely watching her. He was catalouging and filing and doing whatever else a detective would do.

He didn’t say a word though. Rachel stole a glance in his direction.

He was looking at the stars.

She stared down and her eyes burned hot and misty.

“I miss my mom.”

She despised the way her voice broke and the hitch in her breath.

Rachel felt an arm curl around her shoulders and gently pull her into a hug.

She blinked.

Dick was hugging her, one hand carefully carding through her tangled hair, the other pressed against her back firmly.

Dignity and pride were stupid, Rachel decided. She cried.

Dick rubbed her back like he’d done this a million times before (maybe he had) and let her sniffle and shake without comment or judgment.

It felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes. Either way, it was sort of cathartic.

Rachel pulled away, scrubbing at her eyes. “This sucks.” She gave a choked laugh. Dick kept his hand on her shoulder, eyes having gone from their normal stone to one of warmth and understanding.

“I know that you’re hurting and I know this is hard just…” he floundered. Digging for the right words as his brow furrowed. “Just take it one day at a time.”

She nodded, a smile as shaky and delicate as glass pulling her lips up.

With little warning, she leaned towards him, throwing her arms around his neck.

He seemed surprised, for a moment not reacting to the sudden content. For a fleeting second, Rachel worried she’d overstepped. He hesitantly brought his hands up to once again wrap around her.

“Thanks,”

She released her grasp, allowing herself to forget the world for a split second and pressing a quick kiss to his temple. It was barley noticeable, but she craved a little touch of normalcy, his boundaries could bend just a little for her, right?

“My— she used to do that, you know? When I was feeling crappy.”

“My… dad did too. Sorta.” He admited, frowning ever so slightly. “It was more like this.” He held two fingers to his lips, then pressed them to her forehead. Rachel raised an eyebrow, “It’s a halfway version.”

Dick huffed out a laugh, “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

For a moment, the silence returned.

“It’s cold out.” Dick slipped from his spot and stood, “Wanna head back in?”

Rachel shook her head.

“Nah, I’m gonna stay out a bit longer.” Dick stuffed his hands into his pockets, “Okay.”

The crunch of gravel followed him and the barley audible click of the motel door shutting.

Rachel drew in a long breath and looked up, tracing and re-tracing the shape of a single constellation. She watched the stars, spread out against the sky.

They smiled down at her.

**Author's Note:**

> This was based off a prompt sent in by not-so-mundane-after-all-97 asking for father/ daughter Dick & Rachel forehead kisses. It went in a different direction, but I hope you still like it! I might make a series of in-between moments for these two, actually. I love weird dad Dick and his awkward but sincere attempts at affection and how Rachel and Dick lift each other up through the show. He saved her but she saved him.. Poetic cinema.  
> As always I'm a slut for comments and requests, hit me up on Tumblr at Liathgray!  
> Okay bye.


End file.
